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One Great Cheeseball

Have you ever stumbled upon a recipe, and you make it because at the moment the recipe fits the occasion you are making it for and it’s easy so it’s a win-win?

So the occasion for me was my daughter’s birthday party and instead of having a meal like my son picks (one year it was a Mexican feast, the past two years it’s been a chili supper) she chose just to have snack foods. Not wanting just bowl after bowl of chips, I decided to look up some cheese balls.

I went with 2 different cheese balls – one was made with cream cheese and a funfetti cake mix (3 weeks later this is still sitting in my refrigerator – awaiting it’s trip to the curb on this weeks trash day). The other was simply fabulous. There was about 3 bites left when her party was over and my husband ate those last few. It was a Bacon Ranch Cheese ball and not only did it taste heavenly – but it was super easy to make too.

The recipe has 4 ingredients. You soften 2 boxes of cream cheese, mix them with a hand mixer, add a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dry seasoning mix, mix some more. Add a 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and a 1/2 cup of bacon bits (I used the Hormel bits you can buy in a bag already crumbled) and mix some more (the recipe states you can use green onion as well – but I’m not big on onions so I opted to leave it out – but if you love onions – go for it!).

Once the cream cheese, ranch dressing, cheese and bacon bits are all mixed together, I form into a ball and refrigerate for 2 hours. Then I take the cheese ball and roll it in the remaining bacon bits in the bag (I purchase a 4+ ounce bag and ended up using the entire bag for 1 cheese ball).

Now for the next step – EATING IT! I used Keebler Pita Crackers – plain with Sea Salt and loved them. Keebler Toasted crackers – Sesame tastes really good too.

I made this tonight for a surprise birthday party my sister had for her significant other and once again it was a hit. Best part is it’s easy to rattle off how to make the cheese ball when people ask because there are not a ton of ingredients to remember.

So if you are having a get together big or small – try making the Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball, it tastes great and it’s easy to make – and that’s always a plus! If you have a quick and easy appetizer, feel free to share with us in the comments!